1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collision mitigation apparatus for avoiding collision of a vehicle or mitigating collision damage to the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known a collision mitigation apparatus which detects a collision object present in front of a vehicle using a sensor such as camera or a radar, and performs drive assists including giving an alarm and actuating a brake.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2012-103969 describes such a collision mitigation apparatus which is designed to calculate a risk level of collision with a detected obstacle, and give a warning if the calculated risk level is high. This collision mitigation apparatus is capable of giving a warning only when it is necessary.
However, if such drive assists are given to a vehicle driver when the vehicle driver correctly perceives the scene in front of the vehicle and definitely understands how the vehicle should be driven, the vehicle driver may be annoyed.
Further, when the vehicle is running on a winding road or a curved road, it may occur that an object outside the road is detected to be a collision object present in front of the vehicle, as a result of which drive assists for avoiding a collision are performed unnecessarily, causing the vehicle driver to be annoyed.